Cat Scratches and Lessons Learned...

Fizzy and I learned a painful lesson last week. Him: going outside upsets the humans. Me: catching a cat in the "wild" can lead to wounds that will likely leave scars. 

Fizzy is one of our rescue kitties we got last summer. He's just over a year old now and has quite an adventurous streak. He is often the one leading the charge whenever the naughtiness is underway in our home. He's also a lover who demands pets and purrs louder than I've ever heard come out of a cat! 

Cue his adventurous streak last Wednesday. He decided a little run outside while my sister was bringing in groceries would be fun. He went into our neighbor's yard (the one with a larger dog who luckily wasn't out at the time). There he chased a bunny and had the time of his short life while my sister and I tried to corral him. We finally cornered him and my sister told me to grab him since I was closest. I leaned down and grabbed his scruff/neck, but before I ever had a chance to bring his body close to mine and hug him until we got back inside, he spooked. Here was the result. 

      

A week later it is healing, but I'm not sure that it will be without scarring. Two days later, he came up to me and rubbed on my legs. I leaned down to pet him and he flopped over and started purring like nothing had happened.. And that is when God took the opportunity to teach me a little lesson through Fizzy.

We like to push the limits a lot like Fizzy. We want to see what is on the other side of the door. We've been warned. We've been told. We've even seen the destruction that sits on the other side of that door, but yet we still want out. We don't like when the Lord tells us not to do something. Beyond just the 10 Commandments, the Bible has a lot of instructions for healthy living, Godly living and we just don't want to listen sometimes.

So we "sneak" out.

We chase the fun things. We have fun. We enjoy the freedom. Sometimes we drag others along with us. And it's all fun and games until we get cornered.

Then we do one of two things: Tuck our tail between our legs and go back in OR lash out.

Fizzy lashed out and I will likely bear the lasting scars of his one adventurous moment of freedom.

How many scars do YOU bear from your moments of adventure outside of God's parameters that He set for your safety? How many others also bear scars because of you? Maybe because you dragged them along in your sin or because in them trying to get you to safety, you lashed out?

I don't bear ill will against Fizzy. He's a cat with a naughty streak, but I still love that fuzzball something fierce and will do anything I can to keep him safe. 

And God bears no ill will towards us, His children that have a naughty streak a mile long. He loves us with a fierce and protective love and will do absolutely anything to keep us safe and to see us live eternally with Him. We make it tough to be loved and protected sometimes due to our desire to be free. What we miss is that all freedom comes with a price.

For Fizzy's 10 minutes of freedom last week, I paid a painful price.

For our eternal freedom, our Savior paid the ultimate price with His life.

Yet, the only eternal scars are that of Christ's. Mine will be gone as I will be made new once I reach heaven, but Jesus will still bear the scars that my sin...your sin...the world's sin...caused. And for that alone, we need to think before we act.